4 comments about The Blindfold Horse: Memories of a Persian Childhood.

1. Shusha's story telling is so sweet and warm.From her name, I thought she is not from Iran,( not a persian name!) but, yes she is Persian, and her voice is beautiful. But why dose she insist to call the country Persia? The first half of the book, is written so openly and modest, then she just takes us to locations, places, and not so significant introduction of friends and neighbors, when she hardly talks about her siblings and parents.It was difficult to finish the book, still waiting for a catch!Her refernce to the 1979 Iranian revolution, makes the reader think: "so there is no Persia any more"??? The country we know stands still, with any name Shusha likes to call it.



2. Until I read this book, I virtually knew nothing about what the life is really like in Iran, even though I've read a few books from the country. The author starts with her family's origin, so to speak, by telling stories of her great-great-grand father who became Haji, and goes down the generations to her own time. Through anecdotes and episodes, she tells of bazaar, social life of different social status people, old remedies for certain sicknesses, how they educated their children, how they treat girls differently from boys, what it is like to be a servant, what roles mullahs play in politics and religion, how some tried to westernize the country and how others opposed, what it was like in the first movie theatres, how they tried to cool themselves during the summer heat, etc, etc.
   As you read, the life in Iran becomes very vivid and alive in your heart, as if you yourself grew up with the author, and you start understanding the Persian people and the way they are in very positive ways.
   She mentions about religions and politics, as her family has always been one of the powerful and well-respected families which played important roles in religions and politics of the country. 1979 revolution was certainly a bitter experience for many Iranian people. She definitely regrets about it also. But she talks about it rather objectively which allows the reader to see the situation with positive attitude.
   Some of the anecdotes are hilarious, unimaginable to some of us. You will find out what they use to treat laringitis and bronchitis, their best remedy which outworks any of the western medicine, or who is the best bone fixer when you broke your bone, or what it is like to be married at age 12.

   Very very colorful book. You will find a lot of things you have never imagined, and you will gain a lot of knowledge and love for Iranian people. Recommend you 100%!




3. I am so glad to see this book back in print. I bought this book for my daughters, my mother and many of my friends, and I had given out my copy to another friend. The author is so honest in telling her story. I have been looking for the sequel to this story and I will appreciate any information on other books this author has.



4. Absoutely wonderful. Witty, deep, clear imagery, captivating language. Historically accurate with utmost sincerity and absolutely no political/cultural biases.

   You will experience Ms. Guppy's life while reading this book, and will miss her when finished reading it. The sweet memory of this book stays for years.

5 comments about The Los Angeles Diaries: A Memoir (P.S.).

1. I couldn't put this down. James Brown is an amazing writer with an equally amazing story.



2. This book is so honest and so open, it makes a really good read. It's not a cheerful memoir, but I believe that is what makes it special. It's one of those books that I just couldn't stop reading once I picked it up. James Brown is a genius, despite everything that happened during his life. I would definitely recommend this memoir to anyone. I would also encourage everyone to attend one of his readings, they take this book to a whole new level.



3. James Brown's The Los Angeles Diaries is one of the best books I have ever read. This is an inspirational book that you will not be able to put down! Brown's honesty about his struggling with addiction since childhood along with his brother's and sister's struggles with addiction are what makes this memoir so captivating. He lets you in to life and shows you the good, the bad, and the ugly without sugar coating any of it. Brown has been to hell and back. His ability to survive his destructive lifestyle and overcome his demons encouraged me to realize there is always hope no matter how far gone a person is. Even if you are not an alcoholic or drug addict you can still relate to this memoir in some way. Like any great book, it truly changed my outlook on life.



4. As difficult as this may have been to write, it is amazing writing. It captured me from the start. I recommend this memoir.



5. I quit reading fiction some years ago. Now I read only true stories -- or so they claim. It's gotten so I can sense when the writer is BSing me. When a friend reccomended Los Angeles Diaries, I knew it was patched together from truth.
   
   These days any Ivy League poseur with a cocaine habit somehow feels entitled to write a memoir. Before they do, they should read Los Angeles Diaries.
   
   James Brown writes about a the America that flourishes on the edge of the brown sodium light of city streetlamps. He's writing about the America of wide boulevards and dispossesed kids forced to create a world for themselves because their parents are too self-absorbed in Hollywood dreams, and the poison when those dreams come true. He writes of what happens when those kids become adults and mutate into the same world of fantasy and bitter fate.
   
   Brown is an amazing writer. His style -- short, sweet like a punch -- obviates the need for comparison, but he's the son of Bukowski and Fitzgerald writing from a motel room shared with Raymond Carver.
   
   Then there's the drugs and the suicides and the meetings with Hollywood executives and the snipers and the crazed freeway runs and the cold nights detoxing alone in a lost room on the edge of a South Dakota reservation.
   
   The Los Angeles Diaries takes you places that you won't want to go. But once you're done, you will be changed.
   
   Strange thing. He's very popular in Europe. Somehow the Brits and the French see something original, something so American that Americans have trouble seeing it.
   
   Want more info: Go to YouTube and check out the video of a CNN profile. Search under "Los Angeles Diaries."

5 comments about Chasing Kangaroos: A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Creature.

1. Beautifully written. Almost as much fun to read as my favorite vampire and werewolf novels.



2. Here is advice from an expert: "If you ever see a fresh kangaroo carcass lying beside the road it is well worth stopping to take a closer look." The expert is Tim Flannery, a professor, explorer, and paleontologist, and he dispenses his advice, and much other eccentric and informative matter, in _Chasing Kangaroos: A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Creature_ (Grove Press). Flannery has written plenty of books of anecdotes of travel and exploration, and also academic works about the strange mammals of his region. His current book is a combination memoir, travelogue, and appreciation of the fauna (including the humans) of the land down under, and it is delightful in all departments.
   
   Flannery takes his own advice more than once, like the time he was driving in the Northern Territory and a wallaby dashed in front of him before he could swerve. It was a "nailtail" because its whip-like tail has a sort of fingernail at the end, and no one knows why it has such a thing because no one has ever seen it put to use. Flannery took the deceased nailtail back to his camp to anatomize its leg and feet; it is not surprising that these regions give the most clues about kangaroos' evolutionary descent. He also took steaks from the haunches, and reports that the resultant stew produced a meat that tasted like steak and mushrooms and was far superior to the meat of the red kangaroo (that's the kangaroo we non-Australians think of as "the" kangaroo, although there are plenty of others in different sizes, shapes, and colors). Unfortunately, the carcass was also tasty enough for some birds of prey to steal from him overnight, so his museum never got the specimen. Flannery does not deal in just recent kills, but some that have been extinct for millions of years, like _Propleopus oscillans_, the killer kangaroo. Don't worry; the huge carnivorous beast is long extinct, but it has been the subject of some of Flannery's own research, and he goes into some detail about how he did research and came to understand its environmental role, its teeth giving clues about it's carnivorous nature. Flannery describes his scientific jubilation: "Then there were a delicious couple of days when, as I worked on my theory without telling anyone else, I was the only person on Earth who knew that great, carnivorous kangaroos once stalked Australia." Subsequent finds of skulls confirm the theory, but beyond that there is a mystery, for a single arm bone is the only other fossil remnant of the creature ever found.
   
   Another extraordinary thing about these creatures is that although they evolved in isolated islands with no hope of swimming to other lands, humans have arranged for them to populate new worlds, and kangaroos have flourished in unusual places. It is perhaps not too surprising to learn that brush-tailed rock-wallabies have done well on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. They are descendants of two who escaped from a menagerie in 1916. It is surprising, however, that there is a colony of grey kangaroos living happily in the forests west of Paris, France. Thirty years ago, a bungled theft of animals resulted in freedom for the greys who have prospered, much to the delight of the locals. And another extraordinary thing is that the male kangaroo has a scrotum hanging in front of his penis. And another extraordinary thing is that the female has two vaginas, and gives birth through neither of them (a special canal forms around birth time). And another extraordinary thing... Well, Flannery's book is full of them, and his enthusiasm in presenting them to the reader is a delight throughout.



3. XXXXX
   
   "Australia was once dominated by people who loved the mother country--a land of lush greens and as alien to my [present-day] country as any could be. Today, Australians are more likely to proclaim a love of things native, yet because they often lack a true understanding of their environment, theirs is a love that can kill. Such well-meaning but uncomprehending enthusiasm is one reason why many Aboriginal communities continue to struggle under insupportable burdens, why native species [like species of kangaroos] keep vanishing, and why our future is being cut short by an insatiable addiction to fossil fuels. It is why I wrote this book. We have now embarked on a new phase of our national existence, and just where it will lead I do not know. But I have a sinking feeling that unless every Australian searches profoundly for ways to help our land survive, things are likely to end badly for ourselves and this great island continent."
   
   The above is the last paragraph of this fascinating book by Australian paleontologist (and concerned environmentalist) Tim Flannery, who received his PhD from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of New South Whales.
   
   Generally, this book is a blend of three things:
   
   (1) His early years as a paleontologist and his continuing exciting work as a "fossil hunter"
   (2) A natural history of the unique Australian landscape
   (3) A study of the evolution of the equally unique kangaroo. This early evolution of kangaroos was virtually unknown until Flannery came along. (The search for this evolutionary past is what drives this book's main narrative.)
   
   Many people might think that these are three reasons not to read it. Well, not for me! What this book did was made me understand why Flannery was named 2007 "Australian of the Year" and why he a scientist, explorer, and conservationist of "international acclaim" and "interdisciplinary brilliance."
   
   What I found apparent as I read this book is that Flannery knows his science and presents it well when doing actual fieldwork (some of it hazardous) and research to trace the evolution of kangaroos. But there is much more to this book than just scientific precision.
   
   Flannery embellishes his main narrative with humor and gives us his impressions. He fills each chapter with actual Australian characters he meets along the way. However, for me, it was his enthusiasm for his subject that made this book such a joy to read. The result is that this book is like a "love letter" to Flannery's native Australia and its most strikingly remarkable inhabitant: the kangaroo.
   
   My favorite chapters have the following titles:
   
   (1) Captain Cook's kangaroo
   (2) Kangaroo essence
   (3) The mystery of hopping
   (4) The oldest kangaroo
   (5) Where the great roos came from
   (6) The age of kangaroos
   (7) Grass for the kangaroos
   (8) A dingo-driven revolution
   
   Throughout are black and white illustrations (drawings, maps, pictures, etc.) that highlight aspects of the main narrative. As well, there are a dozen color pictures near the middle of the book. (By the way, the book's cover {displayed above by Amazon} shows a picture of a red kangaroo--the symbol of Australia.)
   
   Finally, just before the introduction to the book is a black and white map of Australia. On it, Flannery has placed the locations of key places that he visits and explores in his main narrative. I recommend photocopying this map and using it to follow his travels.
   
   In conclusion, this is a captivating book that's a blend of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science. After I finished reading it, I realized that Dr. Tim Flannery should have a nickname similar to his fictional Australian counterpart "Crocodile Dundee." How about:
   
   "Kangaroo Flannery."
   
   (first published 2007; map; introduction; 26 chapters; postscript; main narrative 250 pages; kangaroo family tree; acknowledgements; bibliography; index)
   
   <>
   
   XXXXX



4. Tim Flannery's "Chasing Kangaroos" is a terrific, informative read regarding what surely is one of the oddest animals in all of nature. To say the author is obsessed with his subject may not quite be true but his love for kangaroos in unabashed. Flannery's book teems with knowledge as one would guess, as he is one of the leading experts on these fascinating creatures.
   
   Anyone who has ever seen a kangaroo "hop"...and I do mean they HOP....will marvel at their overall structure and Flannery, rightly so, gives a detailed account about how they get around, beginning with the physical diversity of the feet of the many different kangaroos. Not all of the dispensed information is cute and cuddly....a description of their digestive systems is downright unappealing...but Flannery covers it all in a narrative style that is mostly well-paced.
   
   His opening recounting of a trip around Australia when he was in his teens can be a bit of a drudge and by that measure it takes a while to get into things. However, I highly recommend "Chasing Kangaroos"...it's simply a fun and educational book.



5. Great reading. A wonderful man. I would love to know him but enjoyed spending the time with the book.

5 comments about Forever and Ever, Amen.

1. Keep in mind this "sister" is now a part of a commuity not set up with the approval of the Catholic Church. The community is a group of feminists that are self governing. While I enjoyed parts of this book, her humor and her caring for the individual I cant help but also feel disapointed that she would leave a community that has helped so many for centuries through education and building schools and hospitals to be part of a community that lives in apartments drinking margaritas and writing books about spells.



2. Karol Jackowski's candid, very honest presentation of convent life preserves an excellent balance between showing the deficiencies and unhealthy practises common at the time, yet never descending to mockery, bitterness, or exaggeration. It is surprisingly witty and fun, yet it is a clear and realistic picture, not a 'valentine' or gloomy 'see what we suffered' tome.
   
   There are areas in which Karol and I would be miles apart - for example, I'm not fond of her constant Wiccan 'blessed be,' and would consider liturgies which featured "Blowing in the Wind" (a marvellous song for the CD player, but not for worship...) as a penance fit for Charles Manson rather than edifying. (Yes, I do remember such liturgies - I must remember she was only 22, and it all seemed relevant and progressive then.) I have not found other books which she authored to be of note. This one was a pleasant surprise. There are excellent insights about prayer, and about Karol's own spiritual formation which endures, within the total picture. She does not skimp on details of the outdated, often unhealthy practises of the day (though I would prefer her group to my own - hers were fun and in solidarity, where mine were so afraid of 'setting a bad example' for one another that they wouldn't have eaten a spare apple lest they be deficient in holy poverty), but presents the memories with warmth, understanding, and compassion.
   
   Many parts of the text range from witty to hilarious - a rare treat in books on this topic. I felt nostalgia, reading of the party aspects and chats in the graveyard, remembering a time when people still had fun and relaxation - though I'll caution the current conservative crop that the references I enjoyed, to sharing a gin and a smoke, that these girls were Catholic, not Puritan.
   
   With its combination of insight and entertainment, I highly recommend this book as a pleasant, nostalgic look at the past - with insights on prayer and contemplation that one can find all the more enriching in maturity.



3. I liked this book, but I got tired of Sister Karol's complaining of the nun life and her love for drinking alcohol. I do, however, respect her for writing a book about being a nun and actually being one of the few who actually remained a nun.



4. I was just browsing when the subtitle caught my eye with its reference to becoming a nun in the 1960s. I was heavily involved in the political and social side of things in the '60s and I was intrigued, especially since the years covered included the emergence of "Vatican II". I am not Catholic or anything close to it, so I was also intrigued by the smiling face on the cover that seemed to differ from the stock impression I'd always had of nuns, especially those just starting out, as unflinchingly stolid and contemplative. This book lived up to the promises I inferred, on both counts.
   
   It is very easy to read. The author keeps the action moving, without getting bogged down. She also avoids the pitfall so many other authors stumble over, of going off on long tangents of philosophy and dogma; Sister Karol sticks to telling the story as promised, throwing in explanations as necessary without turning them into side trips, and I appreciated that.
   
   Another reviewer has mentioned the author's stated belief in reincarnation as a surprise. Sister Karol also uses "Blessed be" at times. It isn't an expression you (or at least I) expect to hear from a nun, but apparently this particular nun thinks outside the box, and is not only respectful and accepting of other faiths but is open to the love of God in all its forms.
   
   This book is not an expose, but a narrative story with fascinating characters (I'd love to have met Sister Concilio) and plot twists, culminating in a happy ending -- all real. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I wish it had been a little more in-depth, a little longer. At 300 pages, it's not a skimpy book, but I would have liked to know more about some of the people and certain phases of the process as she and her sisters experienced them.



5. I have read many books about religious life (the sisterhood) over the years. I entered the convent myself in the early 70's as the mass exodus of sisters was waning. What I most appreciated about Sister Karol's book was how accurately she captured the emotions of the time. She was able to shine a gentle light on that singular experience, known perhaps only to women who have been in formation (postulancy, novitiate, juniorate) to become a sister, of joy, belonging, and awe juxtaposed with fear, sadness, and anger. Her book so precisely captured that experience that I found I could not put it down.
   
   I am grateful to her for evoking those feelings so clearly in me, and, I assume, all who will read the book and remember. Convent life is almost indescribable if you have not lived it. As Dickens wrote, it was for most of us, "the best of times and the worst of times."
   
   If you have been in the convent you will recognize yourself in Sister Karol and her classmates, I promise you. And if you have not, you will have as clear a glimpse as you can get into what life was like in the convent of the 60's.

3 comments about In My Place.

1. Hunter-Gault's story is inspiring to all women who must transcend the prejudice and stereotyping imposed upon us by a society that has yet to learn to appreciate diversity. African, Asian, Hispanic and Caucasian-American women - all have made unique and indelible contributions to women's history and to the rich cultural history of our country. We should celebrate them in our schools and in our hearts!



2. mrs.Hunter-Gault's book is very powerful.overcoming hostility and race.the fight and determination is a must read for todays youth.i couldn't put this book down.very deep.



3. I enjoyed the reading of this inspirational message. It is truly a must-read for adolescents who are aspiring to make their mark on the world. Mrs. Hunter-Gault shares intimate feelings of her experiences. Her book demonstrates her worthiness as a beacon to those who are searching.

5 comments about Cockeyed.

1. This is an engaging memoir of an intelligent, articulate man who happens to be blind. As a teenager, the author developed the degenerative eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa, which slowly robbed him of his sight. He was about fourteen or so, when a portent of what lay in store for him visually began making itself manifest. He ignored the signs of his increasing visual challenges and even learned to drive a car, which he drove until it became clear that he was a danger on the road to himself and others. Some time would go by before he and his family would know what lay behind the author's seeming inability to see what was in front of him. When he discovered the reason, he would remain in denial for some time, stumbling about in a sighted world without the sight he needed to do so safely.
   
   Eventually overcoming his reluctance to admit that, yes, he was going blind, he decided to adopt the use of a cane rather than a guide dog. With stick in hand, he moves about the world in a way that most of us would rather not. Yet, for all that he is blind, he sees the world around him in ways in which many sighted people fail to do. His observations are witty, funny, and irreverent, as he takes measure of his life and some of the indignities that blindness has imposed upon him. The author takes the reader on an unsentimental journey through his descent into blindness, only for the reader to discover just how interesting that journey is. The reader comes away thinking of the author not as a blind man but, rather, as a man who happens to be blind.



2. Knighton did a fantastic job taking you into his journey of losing his sight. There were times when I felt terrible for him, but then there were also times when I laughed out loud!! There were scenes that did seem to drag on at times, but overall, a wonderful read. I will be looking for his next book!



3. Of course this book is inspirational, but to view this memoir as another tale of overcoming obstacles is selling it short. If you take away the subject matter, and judge the writing itself--you'll find an extraordinarily well-written, incredibly witty, and extremely funny book from a writer that has a gift for story telling. Ryan Knighton's intelligence leaps off the page and engages the reader in thought-provoking discussions. He managed to make me laugh out loud as well as cry, and to effectively do both is no easy task. His introspection and fresh, intelligent take on blindness and its effect on his life (and those around him) is insightful and profound. I look forward to reading his next book, regardless of the topic, because I so enjoyed his writing style. His students are learning from a master.



4. I really did love this book and here's why: It's got life, depth, sparkle, sensitivity, honesty, humor, and the ability to educate me on the interesting life he's led. I laughed when Ryan was talking about how people shouldn't worry so much about the "sighted words" in language. He's got a way with words, which includes making the reader FEEL (and yes, SEE) things, not just read them. Ryan's imagery is colorful and clear, from the beginning when he's working his first summer job and itching to drive the forklift, to the end when he's trying to remember details of a favorite photograph. In between, we learn what it was like for Ryan to drive a car (briefly), date, study, use a walking stick (and adjust to it), teach, get robbed (almost), and deal with his going blind during it all - it's quite a read I'd recommend.



5. I really wanted to like this book. Some of the descriptions of the narrator's increasingly challenging interactions with the world are wonderful. After reading it, I can well imagine what it feels like to be in a noisy club when you can barely see, or what it's like to navigate a stariway with only a cane for guidance. Even the relationship challenges are interesting and (to me) unprecedented.
   
   But sometimes there is just too much of a good thing. The in-depth narration gets tiring when it strays to non-pertinent events like teaching overseas. There are some good anecdotes, but they break up the stark reality of the growing handicap.
   
   Is it right to only give 3 stars to a book about blindness? Probably not. The author is great! I'll buy his next book for sure. But this one just didn't "get" me.

5 comments about Dark Force - The Terrifying and Tragic Story of the Bean Family.

1. Glen Burnie is a suburb of Maryland located ten miles south of Baltimore in northern Anne Arundale County. Originally founded in 1812, it is a placed steeped in history and legend but for William and Patricia Bean it offered an opportunity the couple could not pass up.
   
   The three-bedroom ranch house stood alongside its mates like an unattractive dog at the pound but Bill Bean Sr. was able to look past the superficial faults of the house at the promise it held below its surface. A skilled carpenter, Bill immediately began to envision what his prowess with a hammer and nail could do to transform the pink, ugly duckling into a home fit for his family.
   
   In 1970 the Bean family had settled into the place off Ritchie Highway and almost immediately things began to happen that would set the family of five apart from their neighbors.
   
   Dark Force is the true story of the Bean family nightmare as told by Bill Bean and outlines the events of a family under siege by diabolical forces.
   
   What began with a creeping sense of unease in the eldest child, Patty's bedroom, would soon escalate to the physical destruction of an above ground pool. In the dead of night heavy footsteps would be heard emanating from the attic, faucets would suddenly turn on to flood the bathroom. Made beds would unravel to the astonishment of Patricia.
   
   "I guess we have a ghost," She said.
   
   For all intents and purposes the phenomena could be attributed to a classic haunting but for the Bean family these rather innocuous exhibitions were just the beginning of a series of events that would spiral into physical and psychological terror that threatened to undo the very fabric of their beings.
   
   Loved pets would up and disappear while intense episodes of oppression and depression would infiltrate their daily lives driving them to the brink of madness, despair and homicide.
   
   Witness in these pages the firsthand destructive nature of paranormal events that would drive a family apart yet strengthen the resolve of William Bean Jr. (Bill) until he, barely a teenager, shoulders the armor of God and wields the sword of faith against the dark forces plaguing his family in a climactic supernatural showdown- and if he fails, it will finish off them all...



2. At times, I have a difficult time finding a really good book that holds my interest. When I started reading "Dark Force", by Bill Bean, I honestly could not put his book down. Each page I turned had one horrific event happening after another. It leads us to understand how powerful the spirit world can truly be, harming us and even helping us.
   This is a "true" story about a closely knit family who moved into a new home in Maryland, soon finding out they were not alone. The evil that roamed through their precious home had one goal, to torment and terrorize this family and anyone else who dared to go inside. These entities at first made themselves known, showing themselves, than later committing even crueler acts, such as, mind control and strangulation. The horror this family went through for so many years was horrible, breathe taking and life changing.
   For anyone who has interest in paranormal or just loves a truly good horror story, this book is for you. I highly recommend it.



3. "Dark Force" captures the reader into the terror filled lives of a family destroyed by the intent of a malevolent and destructive ring of spiritual entities. This family was that of the Author, Bill Bean. Bill puts into words only what some of us would consider having been our worst nightmare and yet through his faith in GOD he "survives". Bill shares with us his most personal moments of fear as a young child to his adulthood where he devotes his life in helping others by sharing how he overcame such powerful evil. "Dark Force" is a must read to believe how the paranormal can come full circle within your life and you can become that survivor. "Dark Force" is so compelling one can not put the book down until it has been completed therefore reliving the life of this family destined for conflict with evil.
   
   Deborah Collard, RN OHN
   Author
   Paranormal Investigator
   Member of the Parapsychological Society



4. I met Bill at OmegaCon where I was lucky enough to receive a copy of his book from a member of the paranormal group I am the co-founder of. Once I began reading the book I couldn't put it down. I set out to read 2 chapters a night before bed and would end up reading 4 - 5.
   
   This story puts you in the moment, you feel like you are a part of the family as they experience the activity. I must say this account is one of the most amazing stories and I hope this book can help others who may be going through something similar.
   
   We recently had Bill on our show Southern Ohio Paranormal Radio and I must say this man is a very genuine person and his calling is true. Make sure you pick this book up, I promise you wont want to put it down.



5. I first saw this story on "a Haunting" and was excited to learn there was a book written by the boy(Bill Bean).Of course I bought it.I was hoping for more details,that's why the book is always better than the movie,right? Wrong! This book lacked so much.It was very dissapointing.The writing was similar to my 6th grader writing a story for school.I understand Bill Bean is not a writer.Most authors of true hauntings aren't.But I think he could have put much more time and effort into writing a good true story.The book to me seems like it took about a day for him to put it together.
   Bill if your out there,I really do believe your story.I hope you write another book and take your time.Fill it with more details.That's what people like me are looking for in these kinds of books.

1 comments about Means Of Escape: A War Correspondent's Memoir of Life and Death in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Vietnam.

1. I'm going to post the Publisher Comments and also the Kirkus Reviews here because it will better tell you what this book is about and because there are no other reviews and I'm a lousy reviewer. I've read A Rumor of War (loved), Horn of Africa (loved), Delcorso's Gallery (didn't care for), The Voyage (Loved), Acts of Faith (loved) and of course Means of Escape (Loved)
   Mr. Caputo's been through some mighty harrowing experiences in his life as a war correspondent and soldier. I love his writing and his views.
   
   
   Publisher Comments:
   Philip Caputo has been a witness to the most important struggles of our time, from the hot green hell of Vietnam to the dusty mountains of Afghanistan and the bloodstained streets of Beirut. In Means of Eascape, Caputo intersperses imaginative retellings of events he witnessed with true accounts of how he became a writer, and what happened when he was sent to some of the most dangerous places in the world. He begins with his childhood and budding career in Chicago. Soon after, he was deep in the Sinai Peninsula searching for the last authentic Bedouin, and reporting from the front lines of the Yom Kippur War. In an eerie parallel to journalist Daniel Pearl's tragic murder, Caputo was held hostage for a week by Islamic extremists while reporting in Beirut. Caputo's palpable descriptions of the captors and fellow cellmates in this razor-thin existence are as compelling as any escape stroy before or since. As he emerged from captivity, Peter Jennings congratulated him on his eventual escape, and on the Pulizer Prize he'd won while imprisoned. While continuing his work as a reporter in Beirut, he was singled out by a sniper, and received a bullet in his ankle and a chunk of wall in his head. In Afghanistan in the 1980s, he joined the Mujahideen for a clandestine mission and was nearly captured by Soviet forces. Few authors have put themselves so squarely in the center of the 20th century's great conflicts, and even fewer can describe what they saw as well as Philip Caputo does in this important memoir. (6 x 9, 416 pages)Philip Caputo is the author of the New York Times best-seller A Rumor of War and three novels: Indian Country, DelCorso's Gallery, and Horn of Africa. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 as part of an investigative team for the Chicago Tribune, and his coverage of his experience as a captive of Palestinian guerrillas won him the Overseas Press Club's George Polk Citation.
   
   Kirkus Reviews
   An intensely personal, albeit consistently affecting and frequently riveting memoir of years of living dangerously. Caputo (A Rumor of War, Indian Country, etc.) has witnessed much of the worst violence that marked the latter half of the 20th century. A combat veteran of Vietnam, he went on to cover trouble spots throughout the Third World as a roving correspondent for The Chicago Tribune. Describing himself as drawn to history (if not to the sound of the guns), the globe-trotting author has reported on insurgency in Eritrea, civil strife in Lebanon, Israel's October War, the fall of Saigon, and a host of lesser belligerencies. Looking for a "good war" several years after having quit the journalism trade, Caputo accepted an assignment from Esquire that took him deep behind Soviet lines in Afghanistan. Venturesome to the point of rashness, he has paid the price of boldness on many occasions. Though he made it through Vietnam without a physical scratch, for example, the author was imprisoned by Palestinian guerrillas in Beirut and later sustained severe wounds (at the hands of Christian militia) in the same city, leaving him with a still-painful limp. Peacefully settled in one place now, he's content to let a workroom window overlooking a salt marsh on the Long Island Sound serve as his new means of escape. Caputo nonetheless looks back on his days as a rolling stone with some relish and few apparent regrets. Indeed, he retains a rueful sense of barracks humor neatly summarized in an ultrarude anecdote whose moral is: "the final indignity is that there is no final indignity." An episodic, impressionistic, and dead-honest narrative that affords memorable as well as consequentialinsights into a chaotic era's noteworthy conflicts.

3 comments about Living With Big Dogs.

1. This has to be the most boring dog books I have ever read in my life. If you have a big dog or dogs, you can write more than this woman did. It's as if she's making stories up to fill a book. As if you're sitting across the coffee table from her and she's trying to fill 3 hours with stories and grasping to find things to say. It seemed like perhaps some of the chapters were written as individual short stories and she didn't bother to edit them when she put them together into book form. Don't bother with this book. There are so many really good, entertaining, educational, enlightening dog books available that you'd be wasting your time and money buying this one. I'd give it no stars if I could figure out how to do that.



2. Daily life with 3 big dogs is never dull, and neither is this book. A winner for any dog lover. I really liked the butter story! A good read.



3. If you've ever lived with dogs, you'll understand this book. It's perfect for the dog lover!

5 comments about 800 Meters: A Journey of Addiction, Recovery and Redemption.

1. It is hard to imagine how deep of a hole a person can dig for themselves, only to fall into the dark abyss of nowhere. Rarely do those people find their way out, but somehow Mikael did. Many others were not so fortunate.....I knew many of these same people. This book teaches a good lesson when it comes to drug use, friends and making good or bad choices. Read the good with the bad in this very honest account of a roller coaster ride from hell.......and back. Highly recommended for anyone thinking that drugs won't change their lives....



2. This book is a manual for those who are not addicts and hear stories of addiction and cannot understand how this could happen to a good person. Mikael tells his story in such an earnest, engaging way, you cannot help but be totally transfixed following his decent into the worst of drug addiction. His descriptions of the personalities he meets and the strange situations he experiences are TOTALLY entertaining, but his message is completely serious. Instead of sensationalizing his amazing (and it is amazing, how far he goes before he is imprisoned) story, Mikael is completely humble and at the end of each chapter shares with the reader his remorse and what he thinks could be learned from his experience. What also struck me was that throughout the entire book, despite becoming an addict, thief, dealer and manufacturer, you get a sense that Mikael never maliciously damaged anyone who hadn't already decided on their own to be involved in the scene. Perhaps that is why he has devoted himself to helping others not make the wrong decision to be involved in a life addicted to drugs. My only criticism of this book is that it needs more exposure as it truly is a treasure and has so much potential to do good for many others.



3. This book can make wild parties, drugs, and sex look glamorus at times, but the ugly truth will be told at the end. The drive for more keeps the ego alive, the ego lives to be the one in control. Learn who you really are, live your life with your own truths, don't let the ego push you to a life of hopelessness.
   Thanks for putting a nightmare into words, and the wisdom to teach others that the druggie life is always a hellish world to live in.



4. I really enjoyed reading this book. The story details the life of an athlete hooked on drugs. I found it hard to put down once I got into it. It offers hope for thoses who are struggling or know someone who is.



5. In 800 Meters, Mikael Luman is a promising young athlete with hopes of high school state records and college scholarships. After a serious sports related injury, he finds himself without his identity as the star athlete. Not knowing how to cope with his new situation, he succumbs to the partying temptations that have been there all along; but now he sees no reason "to be good". He is hiding and drowning his depression, filling the new void in his life with alcohol and soon drugs too. And it only gets worse...
   
   Mikael Luman's story of his spiral into the depths of addiction, although at times written with humor, is like wanting to look away from the scene of a bad accident but you simply cannot... you just can't stop reading; you have to know if he is going to survive. Throughout the telling of his story you keep hoping that he will "wake-up" or someone will intervene and save him. His story just keeps getting more surreal and bizarre. I had to remind myself that this is his true-life experience.
   
   It was eye opening to me that the addiction will take over a person's life to this terrible degree. Prior to reading 800 Meters, I had no idea that anyone in the grips of addiction, even one that was "raised right", as Luman was, would soon throw their entire moral compass out and be a slave to their addiction and personal desires.
   
   This is a must read for many young people who think they can `party' casually with drugs and alcohol and escape addiction. You never know if you'll get the bullet in this addiction Russian roulette game.